Couldn't Sleep, Thinking Of You
by sallysparrow11
Summary: Another story about "knockdown." Tired of them yet? I'm not. Kate tries to sleep, but she has too much running through her  mind. Who will she meet when she goes to the Old Haunt? Will it be a surprise? Of course not.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Obviously. That is why there have been too many weeks without shows. If I owned Castle, a new show would come on everyday.**

**A/N: I know that there are many, many stories based off "Knockdown," but I just couldn't resist adding mine. If you are tired of them, could you just read one more? Please?**

Kate couldn't sleep.

This wasn't very surprising, considering that she never slept well after working on her mother's case. When she killed Coonan, she barely slept for two weeks. She had ended up getting sick and had gotten rest only when Lanie came and stayed with her. Once again, the only thing that made Kate feel almost ready to face the world again was reading Castle's books.

Tonight, however, she had gotten closer to her mother's murderer, instead of farther away. She had gone home, taken a hot shower, and settled on her couch to read the final Derrick Storm novel for the fifth time. She escaped her worries for about an hour, but then she figured that she needed to get some sleep to face the paper work she would have the next day. However, when she got into bed, she couldn't close her eyes without seeing one of the many scenes from the past few days: Raglan's coffee mug exploding before he fell to the ground and died, Simmons' smile as he taunted her about her mother, Esposito struggling with his bonds as Ryan was about to be shot, and then Castle- sitting on top of one of the men responsible for the giant hole in her life, punching him until the man's face, and Castle's hand, bled-punching the guy with some kind of blind rage-for her.

Castle was another reason she couldn't sleep. Usually, his books helped her escape her worries long enough to get some rest, but tonight the man himself was one of the things keeping her awake. This case, he had shown her how much he cared for her, and how he was actually very capable of being a reliable partner, instead of the infamous nine year-old on a sugar rush. She had shown up at his doorstep and asked to talk, and he had been more than willing to help and very supportive as she went to talk to Raglan. He had been subtle about his support, and for that she was also grateful. He had also shown how much he cared by his fear when he thought she had been shot, and by showing up at her door with flowers after she had been kicked off the case. He had even come to see her when they were both in danger, and had refused when she told him to go home. She asked him why he was still following her, since he was clearly done with research, and for a second she thought he was going to say something that would make their relationship awkward, like that he cared about her or he loved her. He didn't say anything like that, but his words meant the same thing. Together, they agreed that he was her partner, and they continued on with the case.

Later, however, came the part that was truly one of the biggest reasons she was still awake: the kiss. She had said that she was open to dumb ideas, but that was not part of the plan. Acting drunk was a good plan, but when it was not working, she reached for her gun to just take the guard out, but Castle reached for her hand and pulled it away. She was shocked when he grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. As she pulled back and looked into his eyes, she realized that kissing him would make the cover work perfectly, so she pulled him in for another kiss. She kept one eye on the guard, making sure their cover would work, until all of a sudden, it hit her. She was kissing Richard Castle. This was crazy! Yet, she couldn't help but think that it had been coming for a long time. In the moment, she didn't have time to think about it, to decide whether she really wanted this or not, but she gave into the kiss and kissed him a little more fiercely than was strictly necessary for their cover. She got lost for a moment in the feel of his lips on hers, but suddenly, she realized what she was doing, and that this was just supposed to be a cover. She remembered Esposito and Ryan being held captive so she spun out of the kiss and knocked he guard to the ground. She stood there, with her back to Castle, trying to catch her breath and regain her composure, when she heard it. It was Castle's first awkward comment of the day, but not the first to make her heart skip a beat: "That was amazing." She didn't really know how to respond to that, and she was still breathing to hard to talk normally, so she just turned to look at him with an unspoken question on her face. He seemed to realize that he had said that out loud, and that it was a bit awkward, so he tried to brush it off by saying something about how he was referring to her takedown of the guard. She didn't know what to say then, and even now, lying in her bed, trying to sleep, with all the time in the world, she couldn't come up with anything better than what she had said. So, she had just said, "Let's go…Yeah," and turned to go save Ryan and Esposito.

Now, she was beginning to get frustrated because she had been lying in bed for an hour and hadn't even begun to get sleepy. She sat up, turned her bedside lamp on, and picked up the Storm novel again. She thought that maybe reading Castle's work would keep her mind off the man himself.

It didn't.

She couldn't stop thinking about Castle or her mother's case. She looked at the clock and rolled out of bed. Since she had gotten in bed so early, it was still only 11:15. She knew that the Old Haunt would be open for several more hours, and she needed a drink and to go to a place that reminded her of Castle without actually going to his apartment and asking to come in. She thought about calling Lanie, but she figured that her friend was probably out with Esposito, so she left her alone. She got dressed and headed out, hailing a cab and giving the address of the Old Haunt.

She walked into the crowded bar and sat down at her favorite stool, and the bartender came over with the drink she always ordered. She had just finished her first drink when she heard a familiar voice from behind her: "You have insomnia, too?" She didn't have to turn around to know that the reason she had insomnia was standing right behind her. He sat down beside her and the bartender brought them both their favorite drinks.

"No, I just wanted a drink," she lied.

"By yourself?"

"You never drink by yourself?" she tried to evade the question.

"Only when I can't sleep."

Crap. He had her trapped there. She tried to avoid answering his original question by changing the subject: "So what are you doing here?"

"I just told you. I couldn't sleep."

Well, so much for changing the subject…

"Yes. I figured that. But why are you here? At the Old Haunt?"

"I like to come here and watch people. I like to observe their interactions with others. I see them before they drink, after they have had a few, after they've had a few too many. I used to come here to write; now I come here to think."

She would never admit it, but she loved it when he talked like this. He was so open, so expressive, and he let her into his life. These were the times that she would let him inside her carefully built walls, just because he completely tore his down for her.

"I couldn't sleep." She mumbled into her drink.

"What?"

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted with a sigh. "I can't keep my mind off my mother's case." Of course, that was only half of the truth. "I never sleep well after I get too deep into her case. I don't ever know why I try." She left out the part about not being able to sleep because she was thinking about him...

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, placing his hand on hers.

"Thanks, Rick, for being here." With a small smile, she turned her hand, so that she was holding his.

"Always."

**A/N 2: I love the simplicity and finality of that line: "Always." So I used it here, a bit differently, yet the same. Please review and tell me what you think. Also, if you need a beta, look me up! I love editing more than I love writing, and I am probably better at it… Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
